Program Description
The Chicago School's post-master's Psy.D. in Applied Clinical Psychology offers a Psychodynamic Psychotherapy concentration that can be completed in just three years, including internship. Classes are offered in a flexible format suitable for working professionals. The program prepares students to enter the work force with essential diagnostic, therapeutic, and consultative skills as well as in-depth knowledge of psychodynamic theory and exposure to a broad range of dynamically based clinical applications, such as modern psychoanalysis, clinical hypnosis, dream analysis, play therapy and others, that assist the therapeutic process. Students in the Westwood and Irvine campuses' programs may apply to complete their clinical training hours at one of our Chicago School Counseling Centers, two of Southern California's largest and most well respected community counseling centers.
Psychodynamic psychology, sometimes referred to as "dynamic psychology," is an empirically validated approach to the study of the complex interplay between unconscious and conscious processes, and the effect of those inner forces on outward behavior and overall mental functioning.
Like other doctoral-level psychologists, those who are trained in psychodynamic psychology may work with a range of clinical populations, providing individual as well as family and group therapy. Each practitioner may take a slightly different approach to treatment and employ different techniques, from traditional psychoanalysis to talk therapy to dream analysis to expressive arts or even hypnosis, to help clients uncover unconscious feelings or beliefs that may be impacting their decisions, behaviors, and overall quality of life. They may work in private practice, community mental health centers, psychiatric settings, nonprofit agencies, and more.
The curriculum integrates the eight core competencies informed by the educational model of the National Council of Schools and Programs of Professional Psychology (NCSPP), and qualifies graduates to sit for the national licensure exam and licensure by the California Board of Psychology (BOP).
Department
Clinical Psychology
Concentrations
Licensure
Total Credits
66
Fieldwork Requirements
800 hours of practicum; 1,500 hours of internship.
Sample Courses
Freudian Psychoanalysis and Ego Psychology
A study of the major writings of Sigmund Freud from 1895-1940. This course includes Freud's major theories, such as the drive theory, structural theory, topographic theory, and his psycho-sexual theory. Implications for present theory and practice are considered. Ego Psychology as represented by Anna Freud, Strachey, and others is also examined.
Dream Analysis
Introduction to the theory and clinical application of the technique of dream interpretation, covering contributions from Freud and Jung, to present. Dream interpretation allows the psychotherapist to understand dreams as expressions of the client's inner life. Theoretical material on dream interpretation, and dream symbols provide the background to focus on the use of dreams in clinical work.
Kleinian Psychology and Object Relations
Discover important contributions from the British School of Object Relations and more recent American authors. Focus is on primitive mental states, early infantile development, environmental influences, and the way in which these early primitive experiences are re-created with the psychodynamic psychotherapist and patient.
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